Down Under

2nd Week of October

Basements don't tend to be very exciting places, particularly if they are not "finished".  In an effort to hold down our costs we decided not to finish the basement initially.  And yet, as one of my earliest blogs suggests, any good idea must start with a good foundation.  So while it might look raw, a lot of thought went into the location of windows, the placement of the utilities, and runs of piping and ductwork.

Basement, looking toward the back yard

The Builder and I had a back-and-forth discussion for two weeks about what direction the joists should run, and whether or not the steel beams should run below the joists or in-line with them.  In the end we definitely made the right decision.  With the steel beams dropped so that all wood joists can run over them we now have unobstructed paths to run piping and ductwork WITHIN the joist spaces.  This means that when we do finish the basement we won't have to create soffits to cover pipes and ducts.

Basement, looking toward the Stairs

The stairs are located just about in the center of the space.  Basically the Basement is done.  There are insulation blankets around all the perimeter walls.

Basement, looking toward the East wall with electric panels

Some left over exterior trim is lying on the floor, the boxes are window screens and some of the plumbing fixtures.  You can see the electric panels on the far wall.  We have bumped up our electric service to 400 Amps.  It sounds like a lot, and it might be overkill, but the service at the transformer allowed us to increase the size, and it can't hurt.  The power connection was made by Dominion Virginia Power a couple of weeks ago, including the meter.

Basement Utility Room

What is left to be done in the basement is the installation of our water and mechanical systems.  Steve and I had to watchdog the planned locations of all the utilities.  It's funny how contractors seem to like to spread out and take up as much room as possible.  We repeatedly verbalized and showed them the limited area where we want everything to fit.  The picture above shows the rough-in of walls around our Utility Room. The HVAC equipment serving the basement and first floor will be in this room, as well as the well pump and any water filter system we may want, and the water heater. Beyond the Utility room is the rough-in for a future Bathroom.

And that is the Basement.